


i’ve never fallen from quite this high (falling into your ocean eyes)

by klancesvlds



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Allura (Voltron) is a Good Friend, Allura Dies, Allurance is not a thing, Bisexual Lance (Voltron), Cuban Lance (Voltron), Gay Keith (Voltron), Gay Shiro (Voltron), Korean Keith (Voltron), Kosmo is the best dog, M/M, Socially Awkward Keith (Voltron), allurance is only a brotp, delilah isnt real i made her up, i like asexual pidge but pallura worked best here, im bad at tags, mostly just fluff between two boys
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-29
Updated: 2018-12-29
Packaged: 2019-09-29 23:42:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,627
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17213048
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/klancesvlds/pseuds/klancesvlds
Summary: Save me, I'm drowning in your love, don't let me go.____His hand dropped back in surprise, and ocean eyes were staring at him, concerned. He felt like he was drowning, unable to breathe, unable to resurface. Drowning in his swirling blue eyes.Drowning, drowning, drowning.





	i’ve never fallen from quite this high (falling into your ocean eyes)

**Author's Note:**

> allurance are just friends in this fic, sorry guys
> 
> hermoso means beautiful in spanish
> 
> Dios mío means my god in spanish
> 
> i didn't want to do too much spanish cause yn this is in english
> 
> ____  
> also idk the writings kinda bad so yeah, note that while u read

Dark shadows danced and twirled with each other, guided only by a nearby moon and the soft pattering of Keith’s footsteps as he wandered aimlessly throughout the castleship’s corridors.

 

This had become sort of a nighttime routine, he supposed.

 

It wasn’t that he didn’t try to sleep. He did. Sometimes he managed to sleep until three in the morning, like he had this morning. But it didn’t matter how long he slept, the nightmares always returned, and he would always awake exhausted and terrified.

 

It was a sickness, a torment. He saw his father dying in a fire, he saw Shiro crashing the Black Lion. But mostly, he saw Lance. He saw Lance in the healing pod, sickly and pale. He saw Lance, still, dying, _dead_.

 

He pulled his red jacket closer to his numb skin. The pajamas the Paladins had received from Allura didn’t do much for warmth. But he reckoned they were better than sleeping his suit, or the pants and shirt he had arrived in.

 

He didn’t really know where he was going. He never did. He mostly just followed his feet to wherever they wanted to take him, which right now, seemed to be the lion’s hangar.

 

Red lowered her snout so that Keith could press his palm against the metal. He closed his eyes and let the overwhelming silence take him over. It washed over him, and he would have floated away into it if he wasn’t grounded to Red.

 

Until he heard a quiet sniffle coming from the other side of the hangar.

 

His eyebrows furrowed and he cracked one eyelid open. No one was ever up this early. Well, maybe Hunk, but he would be in the kitchens, preparing the meals of the day.

 

There it was again. Another whimper.

 

Someone was crying.

 

He paused before opening his other eye. Turning to look at the other side of the hangar, he realized that only the Blue Lion and the Yellow Lion stood proud and tall where the noises were coming from.

 

“Hello?” He called out into the darkness. The Blue Lion’s eyes seemed to be following him as he moved closer to her, almost beckoning him towards her. So he came closer.

 

The sniffing stopped, but were soon followed by some weak laughter. “Hah, yeah, it’s just me, mullet.”

 

Lance was sitting on Blue’s snout, wiping furiously at his nose. His cheeks were a rosy red, and his fingers were trembling around a small silver picture frame, glinting in the faint light. His shoulders were hunched over and he was tapping a pattern on his leg: two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one. Over and over again.

 

He looked haunted.

 

Just like Keith.

 

“I’m coming up,” Keith said decisively, looking at Blue expectantly.

 

Lance made a noise. “No! Blue, no.”

 

Keith clenched and unclenched his jaw. Crossed and uncrossed his arms. Then he took a step forward. “Okay, then. I’ll climb up.”

 

Lance looked down at him, then rubbed at his cheeks. “Fine, fine,” he surrendered. “Blue, let him up, please.”

 

Blue’s paw opened before him, and he clung to one of her huge fingers as she slowly brought him up to Lance’s level. He tripped trying to get onto her snout, but Lance reached out just in time, his fingers catching the fabric of his shirt. Trying to regain his balance, his arms fumbled out for anything to grab onto. His fingers snagged the incredible softness that was Lance’s hair, and they both fell back: Keith sprawled on top of the _very_ defined chest of the Blue Paladin.

 

“I gotcha,” Lance murmured. Keith could feel the heat emanating off his cheeks, and he hurriedly sat up, turning his burning face away from the other boy’s line of sight.

 

He could see Red across the hangar, and he didn’t like how her eyes were glinting in the dark. It seemed almost mischievous, playful.

 

Lance was saying something, but he didn’t hear him. “Sorry, what?”

 

Lance sighed. “I said, why are you up?”  

 

Keith shrugged, moving a hand up to rub the heel of his palms against his tired eyes. “Couldn’t sleep,” he muttered.

 

Lance shifted beside him, but Keith didn’t realize what he was doing until he felt cool fingers thumbing across his cheeks. His hand dropped back in surprise, and ocean eyes were staring at him, concerned. He felt like he was _drowning_ , unable to breathe, unable to resurface. Drowning in his swirling blue eyes.

 

_Drowning, drowning, drowning._

 

“Maybe you could sleep with me?” Lance offered, a small smile pulling the corners of his lips up and showing off his dimples.

 

Keith’s brain short circuited.

 

“W-What?” He stuttered.

 

Lance’s cheeks turned a rosy pink. “I mean, just sleep!” Then his tone turned softer: “Whenever my younger sister couldn’t sleep, she would always come to me for cuddles.” He glanced down at the picture frame still nestled against his body.

 

“Is that your family?” Keith asked, carefully taking the frame from Lance. He looked over the grinning faces, to the Christmas tree set up in the background, with wrapping paper covering every inch of the floor.

 

Lance nodded. He pointed to the right of the picture. “That’s my abuelos, and my mama and papa.” His hand moved with his words, pointing out every person for Keith. “That’s me, obviously. And that’s Veronica, and Luis, and Marco, and Rachel.”

 

Keith’s roving eyes stopped on the girl who stood right beside Lance. Her arms were wrapped loosely around his waist, and there was a small smile on her face. She looked identical to the boy in her arms, except her eyes didn’t portray the same amount of joy. And Lance has skipped over her. “Who’s she?”

 

Lance’s entire face fell. He closed his eyes for a moment, almost unnoticeable, if Keith hadn’t been watching him carefully. “That’s Lala.” His fingers began playing with a bracelet that lay coiled around his wrist. “Delilah, I mean. She is-” he choked.

 

“Lance, it’s okay,” Keith said, trying to keep his tone even. “You don’t have to tell me.”

 

Lance shook his head. “No, I want to.” Letting out a deep breath, he wiped his nose with the back of his hand before continuing. “She _was_ , my twin. She had cancer, Keith. She died six months before I disappeared into space.”

 

Keith didn’t know what to say, and he had a hunch that Lance didn’t want him to say anything. So he wrapped his arms around the shivering boy, pulling him close to his chest, carding his fingers through his hair, shushing him softly.

 

Lance burrowed his head into the crook of Keith’s neck, wrapping his arms around Keith’s waist. The frame clattering beside them, forgotten. “I’m so worried, Keith.” Lance’s breath was hot on his neck, and Keith had to resist the urge to shudder. “It took everything out of my family to get her the right treatment. And then the funeral bills, and sending me to the Garrison.”

 

“I’m sure they’re alright.” Keith was bad at words. But: “If they’re anything like you, they’ve probably beaten every problem to the dirt.”

 

Lance looked up at Keith, and he was _drowning_ again, in ocean blue eyes. He had a sudden urge to wipe away the tears that were gathered in the corners of his eyes, and so he did. “They’ve lost two kids in one year, Keith. How could anyone come back from that?”

 

Keith didn’t say anything after that. He just held him, tightly, so tightly, as he cried.

 

____

 

Keith’s nighttime routine changed after that.

 

Every night, when he was sure everyone was asleep, he would sneak around the bend in the hallway to Lance’s room. And every night, Lance would open his blankets for him wordlessly, letting him succumb into the warmth that was _Lance_.

 

He tried to convince himself that this was for Lance _—_ Lance needed this, to forget. But then he would wake in the morning feeling more rested than he had in a _very_ long time, and he would remember how it was before Lance, and he would stop lying to himself. Until the following night, that is.

 

Usually he would leave before anyone could come knocking on Lance’s door. He was an early riser anyhow; he liked to be the first one on the training deck. It helped him think, think about what this was, what this _meant_.

 

Keith pressed his hand to the handprint machine-thing outside of Lance’s room. He had no idea what it did, he just knew that all of the Paladins had one, ever since Pidge had set them up.

 

And since this new nighttime routine had started happening, Lance had transferred Keith’s handprint into it, so he could enter his room at any time.

 

Like always, Lance pulled the sheets back, and Keith climbed beside him, resting his head on his chest. Lance breathed out slowly, burrowing his nose into Keith’s dark hair, and wrapping his arms around his waist. Keith could hear the _thump, thump_ of his heartbeat against his ear, and he sighed softly, closing his eyes in contentment.

 

“Hey, mullet?” Lance murmured.

 

It seemed like they had some unspoken rules. No talking while Keith was in Lance’s room. No talking about their routine outside of Lance’s room. Which kind of meant they never talked about what was happening. And Keith was fine with that.

 

Lance was totally breaking their rules.

 

“Yeah?” Keith responded shortly.

 

Lance was silent for a moment, and Keith half wondered if he had fallen asleep. But then his fingers were tapping that same rhythm again _—_ two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one _—_ and, “What were your nightmares about?”

 

Keith rested his chin on his chest so he could peer up into Lance’s questioning eyes. “What do you mean?”

 

Lance swallowed, running a hand through his hair. It was soothing. _Make him do that again_. The thought was through Keith’s head and out again before he had time to contemplate what it meant. “Whenever my sister couldn’t sleep, it was always because of nightmares, so I just assumed-”

 

Keith laid back down, shifting a bit so his ear was pressed to Lance’s chest again, listening to his heart beating a steady beat, like a promise: _I’m still here, I’m still alive_. He liked listening to it, he realized just then. He liked listening to Lance’s heartbeat, he liked drowning in Lance’s eyes, he liked being here with Lance.

 

He liked Lance.

 

He probably had for a very long time. But knowing himself, he had been denying it. Pushing it away until Lance became all that he thought about. Lance and those goddamn ocean eyes. _Drowning, drowning, drowning._

 

He didn’t trust his voice to say much, so he hid himself from the boy, muffling himself in the sheets. “You.”

 

_Lance, Lance, Lance._

 

“W-What?” He heard from above him.

 

“God, Lance, do I have to spell it out for you?” He faced him, his arms flailing. “You! I have nightmares about you dying, and when you were in the healing pod, because I thought you were _dead_ , and it was god _awful_!” He didn’t realize he was crying until he felt the wet on his cheeks, but he pushed on. “Because I like you! I have a huge, stupid crush on you and- hmph!”

 

A pair of stupidly soft lips were suddenly pressed against his. It took him a minute, but Keith finally realized: Lance was here, Lance was _kissing_ him, he needed to kiss him back right this _fucking_ second.

 

It was sloppy, messy; the two of them just trying to scope the other’s body and feel as much as they could. Teeth clashed, tongues battled; for a second, it almost seemed like they were fighting. It was the most imperfect kiss, but Keith couldn’t think of anything that made it more perfect.

 

When Lance finally pulled away, he rested his forehead against Keith’s, panting. Keith was _drowning_ again, unable to breathe as he stared into his ocean eyes. “I like you too,” Lance was breathless and Keith was _drowning, drowning_ , until, “I really, really like you, so much so that I even wanna hold your hand with those stupid gloves.” Lance shot him his signature finger guns and fucking _smirked_ , and Keith simultaneously had to resist the urge to smack the boy with a pillow and smother himself with a pillow and die.

 

“Lance!”

 

____

 

When they lost Shiro, Keith thought he was going to die.

 

He probably would have too, if Lance hadn’t been there to ground him, to pull him back, to comfort him. “ _Hermoso_ , it’s going to be okay. He’ll come back. He always comes back to you.”

 

He choked over his own spit, burrowing his head deeper into Lance’s shoulder. “He’s already left me before, Lance. He can’t leave me again.” Lance’s jacket was wet, and Keith knew Lance hated that, but instead of pushing him away, he pulled him tighter, breathing into his scalp.

 

“He’ll come back,” Lance kept murmuring, over and over until Keith believed it.

 

And he was right. Shiro did come back.

 

____

 

“We’re not going to make it!”

 

“Please hurry, Princess.”

 

Matt came over Keith’s intercoms. “We’ll never penetrate those shields!” He hollered over the loud sounds in the background.

 

He shook his head, looking up at the forcefield protecting Haggar’s ship. “Maybe not with our weapons,” Keith said, gritting his teeth, looking straight over Matt’s head. He pushed his thrusters forward and his small Galra cruiser headed towards the shields at top speed, leaving no room for indecisiveness.

 

He heard Matt yell, “Wait, Keith, what are you doing?” and he pushed even harder, sweat beading down his chin.

 

“Keith, no!”

 

He hesitated for a second. Just a second, but to him, it felt like eternity. His ship was still hurtling towards the shields, but Lance’s voice… it sounded broken. He closed his eyes, trying to block out the sounds, trying to stay afloat, trying not to _drown_.

 

“Lance,” he muttered. “I love you.”

 

Then there was an explosion, and he heard Lance’s absolute wail before his coms cut off. His eyes opened, and he pulled his thrusters back, grunting. Then everything went black.

 

____

 

Keith’s eyes fluttered open. He turned his head, wincing, to see a figure sitting beside him, head in his hands. “Lance?”

 

Lance lifted his head slowly. Keith could see the beginnings of stubble on his chin and neck, which was odd. Lance had a crazy nighttime facial routine, which included four different types of weird alien face creams and soaps. He always commented about how jealous he was because Keith didn’t do anything except splash some water on his face before bed, and he had, quote, “the most amazing and softest skin in the whole entire galaxy”.

 

“Keith,” Lance breathed out, helping him sit up and drink some of the water from a cup beside him. He looked at him cautiously. “Do you remember what happened?”

 

When the water touched his lips, he realized how absolutely parched he was, and gulped the rest of it down. “Yeah,” he said when he had finished, wiping at his lips. “Wait,” his brow furrowed, “how am I still alive?”

 

“Lotor fired at the shields. You pulled back before you could actually kill yourself.” Lance’s mouth was set in a grim line. “Now that I know you’re fine,” Lance said, grabbing a pillow from the chair he was sitting on. He whacked him as hard as he could, causing Keith to groan out in pain. “What the fuck, Kogane?” He thwacked him again.

 

Keith brought his arms up to cover himself from the assault. “It seemed like the only way!”

 

“The only way? The only way?” Lance was practically seething. He took the other corner of the pillow in his free hand, and using both hands, brought it down on Keith’s crossed arms. “You basically told me that you love me and died!”

 

“But I didn’t die!”

 

“But you could have!” Lance fell back into his chair, bringing his hands up to cover his face. “You could have.” Then he moaned: “Tell me again why I’m dating such a moral _asshole_?”

 

Keith chuckled, replacing Lance’s hands with his own. He cupped Lance’s cheeks and peppered kisses all over his face, looking into his ocean eyes, _drowning, drowning, drowning._

 

“Did you mean it?” Lance asked softly.

 

Keith cocked his head to the right. “Mean what?”

 

Lance squeaked, and turned bright red. “Y’know…” he trailed. Keith widened his eyes, gently nudging him on. “Didyoumeanthatyouloveme?” He stammered quickly.

 

Keith’s lips parted. He nodded, “Yeah.”

 

Lance wrapped his arms around Keith’s neck and let out a _whoop_ , before falling on top of him, catching his lips on his own. He nudged their noses together, his eyes squeezed shut. “Not fair,” he muttered, pressing kisses onto Keith’s lips over and over. “You always say it first.” He opened his eyes, his _ocean eyes_ , catching Keith staring at him with an eyebrow raised and a grin plastered on his lips. “I was totally planning on a romantic dinner on the observation deck, watching the stars, and when the moment was right, telling you first.”

 

Keith curled his arms around him, inhaling his scent: cinnamon shampoo and tangerines and _Lance_. “Were you now?”

 

Lance puffed out his chest. “Yes! You can ask Hunk, I had already asked him to make the dinner.”

 

“Okay, then, I take it back, I don’t love you,” Keith said casually, watching as Lance’s face tormented into one of outrage. “Now you can say it first.”

 

“Keith!”

 

____

 

After that, Lance just wouldn’t stop touching him.

 

A finger laced through his belt loop, an arm wrapped around his shoulders, their thighs pressed together under the dinner table.

 

It wasn’t like Keith cared. He didn’t even really _notice_ , until Allura mentioned it.

 

She pulled Keith over to the side after a briefing one day. Before she said anything, she glanced back to where Lance was chatting with Shiro, and watched him grin at something Lance said.

 

“You needed me for something, Princess?” Keith asked, bringing her attention back.

 

“Oh yes,” she said. She turned pink. “I hope this isn’t offensive, I was just wondering how it doesn’t bother you that Lance is constantly touching you. I know it would bother me.” She was blabbering, but she doubted that he heard her. He was gazing at Lance piggyback Pidge around the room with a soft smile on his lips.

 

“Does it bother you when Pidge holds your hand?” Keith murmured.

 

Allura started. What an odd question. “No?”

 

He looked back at her. “It’s kind of like that. It’s just his way of showing affection.”

 

Only then did Allura realize how deep Keith’s love Lance ran.

 

____

 

Shiro once walked in on Keith and Lance before a mission.

 

He had honestly thought that walking in on his younger brother and his boyfriend would be more scarring than it was. But all they were doing was holding each other.

 

Lance was leaning against a wall, perfectly slotted against Keith so that his head could fall against the crook of his neck. Keith’s arms were wrapped loosely around his waist, but Lance’s were coiled tightly around his neck.

 

They weren’t talking. They weren’t doing anything except _being_ with each other. Like they were each other’s rock. Like they were _drowning_ , and all they could do was hold on to each other.

 

Shiro smiled sadly. He remembered when he used to have a love like that. He was happy, so happy, that Keith had found someone to love, and who loved him just as deeply in return.

 

Keith lifted Lance’s head, and whispered something in his ear. Lance laughed, and threaded his fingers through tendrils of dark hair, pulling him closer, closer, until they were kissing, and Shiro knew he had to go.

 

____

 

Their first time was both everything and nothing Keith expected it to be.

 

Lance had asked him, before, with a small smile and rosy cheeks, to be gentle. He had never been with another man before. Needless to say, Keith was absolutely thrilled to be his first.

 

He had asked him, again and again, if it hurt, if he really wanted to do this, if he wanted to stop. But Lance shut him up every time, stopping his words with the confirmation on his lips, with the pleading in his ocean eyes.  

 

He couldn’t really describe it even if he wanted to. All he remembered were the soft moans and tender touches and chants of names like prayers. All he remembered was the toe-curling pleasure, and the way Lance looked beneath him.

 

“ _Keith, Keith, Keith,_ ” he was saying a name like a mantra, over and over. It filled him with an undeniable boost of pride, of joy. _He_ was making Lance feel this way. Him, only him.

 

His eyes were squeezed shut so that he couldn’t drown. He didn’t _want_ to drown. He wanted to remember every last second of this.

 

“Is it okay?”

 

“‘s good. _So_ good, _Dios mío_.” It was almost like he could read his mind, though, because his next words countered what he had just been thinking: “Keith, don’t stop, don’t you dare. I swear to god, Keith, if you stop…”

 

“Lance…” he burrowed his head in Lance’s neck. This felt _right_ , so right. “ _Lance, Lance._ ”

 

“Keith, I love you, I love you,” he sobbed.

 

He had been waiting oh-so long to hear those three little words from him. He didn’t know if they were truly his, or if he was too drunk on pleasure to care what he was saying, but either way, it sent him over the edge. “Lance!”

 

____

 

Two years.

 

Two years he had been stuck in the abyss.

 

Two years he had been trapped here without Lance.

 

He missed his voice. He missed his touches, his hugs, his soft lips. But most of all, he missed drowning in his ocean eyes.

 

Sometimes, he would get lucky, and instead of seeing the past of his mother and father, he saw his future with Lance.

 

He yearned for those visions. So desperately it hurt. But he supposed the abyss knew that. That explained why they were so rare and few between.

 

_Keith was tangled in the bed sheets. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, and he knew he was home. Home, finally. What a wonderful word._

 

_The spot next to him was empty, but it was still warm, like he had woken up just a few minutes after Lance. Well, he assumed it was Lance. It better be Lance._

 

_He quietly pattered into the kitchen, the air smelling of pancakes and bacon. Lance was leaning over the stove, humming some stupid tune as he flipped one of the cakes over._

 

_He silently wrapped his arms around his waist and Lance jumped. “Dios mío, Keith!” Bracing himself against the counter, he threw a stunning smile over his shoulder, his ocean eyes highlighted by… were those Altean marks? “You almost gave your poor husband a fucking heart attack. On Valentine’s Day, no less!”_

 

_Keith chuckled._

 

_“Papá, you cursed again!” A young girl, about eight or nine, was seated at the dining room table, drawing on a blank piece of white paper. She looked up at them with wide eyes. “Daddy, tell Papá that he has to put money in the curse jar now.”_

 

_Keith looked back at Lance expectantly, who grumbled, “At this point, I’m going to be funding her college tuition,” before slipping a shiny silver coin into the jar on the counter._

 

Keith still couldn’t wrap his head around him being a _father_.

 

Sometimes he dreamed about what’d he do, what’d he _say_ , when he got back to Lance.

 

Krolia had caught him three times now thinking about it with a loopy smile. Every time, she said, “Whoever caught your heart has got to be pretty great if they make you smile like that,” before going back to doing whatever the hell his mother did on a motherfucking space whale.

 

____

 

“Keith! It’s so good to see you.” Shiro looked surprised to see him.

 

Then Lance was marching towards him, and Keith forgot all about Shiro, and his heart was doing weird flip-flopping shit inside his chest. “Hold on. How do we know you’re the real Keith and not his bigger, cooler, grizzled older brother?”

 

Keith rolled his eyes. “I don’t have time for this, Lance.” He stepped forward, facing the rest of the Paladins.

 

He could hear Lance’s stutter behind him, and then a weak, “Hey, everybody, Keith’s back!” But his usual enthusiasm wasn’t into it.

 

Keith just wanted to wrap him up in his arms and hug him and kiss him and tell him that he loves him and that he missed him. And that _scares_ him. But he wasn’t lying, he doesn’t have time for that.

 

Keith stared at Shiro. “We need to stop Lotor,” he gritted his teeth at Hunk’s gasp. “He’s been lying to us.”

 

“Lying about what?” Shiro asked.

 

From behind him, he heard Romelle exclaim, “Everything!” But he didn’t turn to look at her. His eyes were focused on everyone’s expressions.

 

“You’re… you’re Altean!”

 

“And who’s the Galran?” Keith didn’t miss how Lance side-eyed Krolia. He would’ve laughed out loud from the ridiculousness of it — his boyfriend was jealous of his _mother_ — but again, there were more pressing matters.

 

“Is that a wolf?” Hunk looked mildly afraid.

 

Coran was still gaping at the poor girl. “Where did you come from?” He demanded.

 

He sighed. “I promise, I’ll explain everything once we get to Lotor.”

 

Keith grabbed Lance’s hand before he could follow everyone else to the bridge. When he didn’t give any sign of rejection, Keith laced their fingers together.

 

Keith could see that Lance’s mind was galaxies away, and he wanted him to be here, present, with him. “Lance,” he prodded. Lance looked at him, and he was _drowning, drowning, drowning_ in those ocean eyes. “She’s my mother.”

 

Lance stiffened. “I thought your mother was dead, _hermoso_.”

 

“I thought so, too,” Keith breathed. “But I found her. I found her again.”

 

Lance sniffed, and pulled him into a hug, rubbing his nose into Keith’s shoulder. “I missed you, Keith. And then you came back with another Galra, and all I could think was that you’d replaced me.”

 

Keith laughed. He couldn’t help himself — it was _ridiculous._ Lance gave him a hard look. “Lance, I’m gay.”

 

“I know, but people can change, you know?”

 

“You’re so weird,” Keith said affectionately, kissing his cheek.

 

“Hey!”

 

____

 

Lance was walking on eggshells around Krolia.

 

Keith was pretty sure his mother had threatened him.

 

____

 

They were headed back to Earth.

 

A flutter of butterflies had settled in Keith’s stomach, and he really didn’t know why.

 

Actually, that’s a lie, he definitely did know why. It happened everytime Lance mentioned his family. Well, him meeting his family, to be precise.

 

And Lance had started with that goddamn tapping again — two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one.

 

Even over the coms, Keith could hear it as clear as day. “Lance,” he said shortly.

 

The tapping stopped. “Sorry,” he said softly. “I’m just so excited, you know? I’m finally going to see Mama and Papa and Ronni and Marco and Luis and Lal…” he trailed off.

 

There was a moment of silence before Lance continued. Everybody groaned. “Yeah, and Rachel, and Sylvio, and Nadia, and my abuelos…”

 

“I swear to god, Lance, if you don’t shut up, I’m going to hit you with Green’s paw,” Pidge interrupted.

 

“Pidge!” Allura admonished.

 

“You were thinking the same thing, babe, don’t even deny it,” Pidge replied. There was silence from Allura.

 

Keith’s head was pounding, and if someone said _one more fucking thing,_ he was actually going to murder them. “Shut up!”

 

“Aw, Keeeith,” Lance whined.

 

“Lance, I swear to-”

 

“Enough!” Shiro had to agree with Keith. The tensions were flowing just a bit too high even for him. They needed to get off the lions, to rest, find food and _sleep._ “Let’s just get to Earth as fast as we can. Pidge, channel in Commander Holt.”

 

____

 

They ended up leaving their lions on Saturn, which seemed kind of stupid, if you asked Keith. But no one was asking Keith, so there they were. The five Voltron lions, all in one spot, without Paladins or anything to defend them from Galra at all.

 

Yep, definitely the stupidest thing they had ever done.

 

The first family member Keith met was Veronica.

 

She and James Griffin were the ones who saved them from bots in the city and drove their sorry asses the hour to the Garrison. Lance rode with Veronica to “catch up”, as he called it.

 

Which meant an hour drive. With James Griffin. Without Lance.

 

He had never told Lance of him and Griffin’s past. How he started hooking up with him as a way to construct his negative feelings into something more positive.

 

It wasn’t that he was ashamed, per say. He just didn’t want Lance knowing.

 

Shiro kept giving him looks he probably thought were secrete. They definitely weren’t. Krolia’s eyes were narrowed at the driver, and Allura just looked frightened.

 

Keith wanted to dig a hole and die in it.

 

The cars hadn’t even stopped before Pidge flung herself out, yelling “Mom!”, and was immediately embraced by a teary eyed Colleen Holt.

 

“Oh, Katie,” she sobbed, falling to her knees, Pidge still wrapped tightly in her arms. “I’m so glad you’re home.”

 

Everyone was watching Pidge and her family, but Keith was watching the fond look that had settled over Lance’s face. God, he was in deep.

 

“Lance!”

 

Two young children were running towards him, shouting “Tío Lance!” Tears beaded in the corners of his eyes, and he grinned, pushing himself out of the truck, towards the kids Keith could only guess were Sylvio and Nadia.

 

He skidded to his knees, and Keith was half worried that he’d hurt himself, but the beaming smile as he was burrowed in his family told Keith everything he needed to know.

 

“My son.”

 

“It’s so good to see you.”

 

“We never gave up on you.”

 

“I missed you so much.”

 

Keith bent down to pet Kosmo, suddenly feeling quite out of his comfort zone. He had no idea what to do in these sort of situations, and bent his head low as he pretended not to be listening to Lance’s conversation with his family.

 

“Oh my gosh, you two are so much bigger now!” Lance exclaimed, and Keith glanced up to see Nadia perched on Lance’s back.

 

“You’re the same size!” Sylvio commented, gazing up at Lance with what could only be described as adoration or admiration. Laughter. Laughter, more laughter.

 

Hunk was staring at Lance with a wistful look on his face. “It’s good to have you home,” Commander Holt said, directing Hunk’s attention to him.

 

Hunk bent his head. “So… my family?”

 

“We’ll get them back soon.”

 

Keith wished he could do something for him. At least he came here _expecting_ no one. Hunk had missed his family, and they weren’t here. Keith caught his eye. “Hey, it’ll be alright,” he said in what he hoped was a reassuring tone. Hunk gave him a thumbs-up, then turned to help unload the rest of the truck.

 

“Keith!”

 

Keith’s head snapped up to see Lance waving him over. His family was gathered around the Blue Paladin, looking at Keith expectantly.

 

Keith blinked.

 

Lance laughed out loud, and the sound sounded like everything Keith could ever want, then practically skipped to where he and Kosmo were sitting. Lance threaded their fingers together, pulling him towards the Cubans gathered together. “Uh, Lance… I’m not so sure about this.”

 

“It’ll be fine, _hermoso_ ,” Lance said, then flashed him a brilliant smile, and Keith just had to believe him, because he was _Lance_.

 

And suddenly, Keith was standing before Lance’s family.

 

Completely still. Kosmo transported himself with a _pop_ to kneel between his legs. He laid a hand on the wolf’s head, soothing both himself and the dog.

 

Lance clapped his hands together. “Everyone, this is Keith!” He turned to Keith. “Keith, this is… well, everyone!”

 

“Uh… hi?” He said softly, giving a small wave and a half-smile.

 

“Aw, he’s cute!”

 

“Nice going, Lance!”

 

One of them — Rachel, he thinks — actually _winks_ at him, “Hey, cutie, you ever get bored of boring old Lance, you know where to find me.” Keith spluttered, not sure what to say to that.

 

Lance turned red. “Rachel!” He whined, grabbing Keith’s hand and intertwining their fingers.

 

“Wait, wait, wait,” Veronica shouted, holding up her hands. She pointed at Keith, who flushed, still not used to all of the attention. “Your name is Keith? Keith Kogane?”

 

His eyebrows drew together, and he backed away slightly from the offending finger. “Uh… yeah?”

 

Lance made a noise deep in his throat. “Veronica, I swear…”

 

She interrupted him with a squeal. “Lance _never_ stopped talking about you!” Her hands flailing this way and that, she drew a deep breath and continued: “All about some rival bullshit. _Dios mío_ , you should have heard him!”

 

“Language,” Lance’s mother scolded. To her credit, Veronica looked properly admonished.

 

“Ronni!” Lance wailed.

 

Keith cracked a grin. “Yeah, I heard some of it.”

 

“Keith, tell us all of Lance’s embarrassing stories!”

 

“No, Keith, tell us about being the leader of Voltron!”

 

“Ooo, Keith, tell us how it feels to boss Lance around!” To this, Lance turned even redder, which shouldn’t be possible, and turned to take Marco’s neck in a headlock.

 

“Keef?” He heard a small voice from below him, and he looked down to see Sylvio holding up a small Black Lion toy. “Is this your lion?”

 

Keith squatted, taking the toy from the boy. He had the same ocean eyes as Lance, Keith noted. He nodded, “Yeah.”

 

Sylvio screeched. “That’s so cool! Will you take me on a ride?” He looked up at Keith, and Keith practically melted.

 

“Ask your mother, kid,” Keith ruffled his hair affectionately. Sylvio bounded away towards Luis and his wife.

 

Lance was shouting something at Rachel, and Rachel yelled back, “I don’t care, he’s cute!”

 

To which Lance responded, “And gay!”

 

“You love him?” A kind voice asked from behind him. He turned, suddenly overwhelmed, pressing a hand to his forehead.

 

Lance’s mother replaced his hand with her own, in a very motherly gesture. She repeated her question, once, twice, until it finally got through his brain.

 

“Yes. With all my heart.”

 

Then she finally smiled, pulling him close, closer, towards her, until her arms were wrapped around him firmly. He didn’t know what to do, so he just stood there, waiting for it to be done, waiting until he could just _die_.

 

“You make him happy,” she whispered into his ear, and then she was pulling back, a slight frown marring her smile lines. “You’re not a hugger,” she said, like a statement, not a question.

 

He shrugged helplessly.

 

Her smile was back, and it was blinding, so blinding, that Keith knew exactly where Lance got it from. “You will be, in time.”

 

____

 

They were curled together on the small sofa bed in his family’s small rooms in the Garrison. Keith felt at peace, with Lance’s arms caging him in, protecting him from everything that was going to happen tomorrow.

 

Keith drew lazy patterns on Lance’s bare skin, and Lance tapped against his hipbone — two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one.

 

Two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one. Over and over.

 

“Hey, Lance?” He said quietly.

 

“Hmm?” He heard his sleepy response. His breath tickled his hair every time he exhaled.

 

“What does your tapping mean?”

 

Lance was silent for a moment. “I thought you would’ve asked that sooner.” He tilted Keith’s chin up so that Keith was _drowning, drowning_ in ocean eyes. “It’s morse for family,” he murmured, tapping the code on Keith’s chin.

 

That made Keith’s heart do weird shit inside his chest. “Am I family?” He asked lowly.

 

Lance looked at him, shocked. “You’re more than family… you’re,” he paused, seemingly thinking of a good word, “you’re Keith.” He nodded, like that explained everything.

 

_You’re Keith._

 

____

 

“Keith!” Keith could just barely make out the Red Lion as it zoomed towards him, readying to form Voltron and save the universe, you know, all that jazz. “Keith!”

 

Keith pauses. “What?”

 

“Keith, I just had to most brilliant idea!” Keith could practically hear Lance’s grin. “Keith, will you marry me?”

 

Keith spluttered and froze, _in the middle of a fucking battle._

 

“W-What?”

 

“Marry me!”

 

“Lance, watch out!” Hunk exclaimed, firing at some cruisers who had taken after Lance.

 

“Thanks, buddy!”

 

“Why?” Keith asked, his heart beating furiously.

 

“What do you mean, _why_?” Lance cried, turning his lion so that Red was facing Black. “Do I have to spell it out for you? I’m not above begging, though that seems kind of like a personal blow, considering we’ve been dating for _two years_.” Keith could feel Lance’s glare radiating off of Red. “Keith Kogane, please marry me, I love you so much, it physically _hurts_ every moment we’re not tied in holy matrimony-”

 

Keith cut him off. “God, Lance, don’t you ever shut up for _one moment_?” He slammed his hand down. “I mean, this is totally unfair! I can’t even kiss you right now!”

 

“This is so cute,” Hunk’s voice came over the coms. “Even when you’re proposing, you’re still arguing with Keith, I love it.”

 

“Shut up!” Both boys shouted in tandem. Hunk’s voice disappeared.

 

“I was planning on asking your mother and everything, Lance!” He pouted, even though he knew Lance couldn’t see it.

 

Lance screeched. “Hah! This is for all of those times you said it first when I was planning to!”

 

“Oh, fuck you,” Keith muttered.

 

Lance’s face came over his screen. “Don’t you want to,” he said slyly, winking. Keith threw his bayard at him, and he cackled, his head disappearing.

 

“Yes or no, Keith?”

 

“I mean…” he stopped. “Don’t you have to ask someone for my hand? And like, I don’t know, a ring?” He turned Black around, meeting one of the cruisers face on, and shot it out of the sky.

 

“Aw, Keefy, do you want me to _woo_ you?” Lance purred. “Atlas, come in!”

 

Keith turned red as he caught on to the Blue Paladin’s plan. “Oh my god, Lance, no!”

 

“This is the IGF-Atlas, what can we do for you, Paladin?” Shiro’s voice crackled over the radio.

 

Lance shouted, “Give me permission to marry Keith!”

 

“Really, Lance?” Shiro sounded disappointed, to say the least. “Yes, permission granted, now _please_ focus on the battle now.”

 

“Sir, yes, sir!” Lance laughed. Keith could never get over Lance's laugh; it sounded like music and twinkling bells, and everything about it was just so  _Lance_. “Now, yes or no, Keith?”

 

“Um…”

 

“Keith, yes or no?”

 

“Yes, yes, alright, yes!” But as annoyed as Keith was, he couldn’t say that he would change a thing.

 

____

 

Honerva clasped Allura’s outstretched arm. The princess turned, a sorrowful expression etched on her face, “I’m afraid this is where we part ways.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“Allura.”

 

“What?”

 

“No,” Pidge whispered.

 

Allura took a couple steps forward, bracing herself. “This is our only chance to undo what has been done, to save all of existence.” She looked up. “I have to take it. It is my purpose.” Her eyelids fluttered, but she pushed on. “Your paths go on. Mine ends here.”

 

The overwhelming silence. Except this wasn’t a good silence. No, this was the worst kind of silence Keith had ever felt wash over him, and suddenly, he was _drowning,_ unable to breathe, unable to resurface.

 

Hunk was the first to break the quiet. “But there is no Voltron without you.” His steady jaw was quivering, like he was holding in tears that were right here, ready to fall.

 

Allura looked into his eyes. “Voltron isn’t needed anymore. The rest of the work is up to the people.” She placed a hand on his jawline, smoothing the creases in his eyebrows. “And they’ll have you to guide them, Hunk.” Drawing him into a sweet embrace, he finally let the tears fall.

 

“Goodbye, Pidge.” Allura’s usually unbreakable facade was cracking, one by one. She knelt down to readjust the glasses on Pidge’s face.

 

“I’m going to miss you, Allura.” Pidge’s voice held no anger, no resentment. She had just accepted what needed to be done, and was letting Allura meet her destiny.

 

Keith thought she was the strongest of them all, for that. If it were Lance, he was positive that he would have carried on until Lance felt bad enough to not go.

 

Allura kissed her forehead, then rested her chin on Pidge’s shoulder. “Remain curious…” she paused, “And fearless.”

 

Pidge muttered something, most likely an _I love you_ , her breathing shaky. Allura held her for a moment, before letting Hunk draw Pidge away from her embrace into his own.

 

“Most of them won’t know the sacrifice you made so they could live.”

 

Allura responded quickly, more quickly than Pidge or Hunk. “And they’ll never need to. Your selflessness taught me that.”

 

They extended their arms at the same time, Allura whispering a “Thank you” into Shiro’s suit.

 

And, goddammit, Keith had forgotten how hard it was to watch Shiro cry. “You never have to thank me for anything.”

 

“Keith…” she looked at him and, oh dear lord, he didn’t know how the others had kept themselves from crying for so long. He was about to let the floodgates go just from her eyes. _Drowning, drowning, drowning._ “I cannot thank you enough for all you’ve given me.”

 

Shiro was looking at him expectantly, and he realized that he needed to say something back. “Allura, when you accepted me, it helped me to accept myself.” Oh sweet jesus, he was not good with words. “Thank you,” he ended it shortly, not knowing what else to say or do.

 

She drew him close, murmuring, “There is greatness in your heart, and in your actions.” And then the tears were falling, and he was _drowning, drowning_ in the salt and the pain.

 

He almost didn’t notice Lance watching him with something soft in his eyes. Almost.

 

“No. Allura, there…” he choked on his words. “There has to be another way.”

 

Her head was bent, and her breathing had sped up. “There is no other way.” She looked up at him. “This is all we have.”

 

Salty blue tears were falling from Lance’s ocean eyes, and Keith really, really wanted to scoop him up and hug him until he was fine again. “But you’re too important to the cause,” he stumbled. “You’re… you’re too important to me.”

 

She reached up, her thumbs brushing over his cheekbones. “I’ll always be with you, Lance,” she replied softly, and when she pulled away, blue Altean marks glowed on his upper cheeks, matching his ocean eyes. “Thank you, so much. For always being there for me.”

 

Keith intertwined his fingers with Lance’s.

 

She turned to where Honerva was waiting. With one last glance over her shoulder, she smiled, and, at peace at last, joined her father and her mother on the other side.

 

____

 

Keith was tangled in light blue bed sheets. Sunlight was streaming through the windows, illuminating an empty spot beside him. It was still warm, though, which meant Lance couldn’t have gone far. He had seen this before, this perfect fall morning.

 

He quietly stepped into the kitchen, the air smelling of pancakes and bacon. Lance was leaning over the stove, humming some stupid tune as he flipped one of the cakes over, his fingers working their stupid tapping on the counter.

 

He silently wrapped his arms around his waist and Lance jumped. “ _Dios mío_ , Keith!” Bracing himself against the counter, he threw a stunning smile over his shoulder, his Altean marks glowing in fondness, illuminating his ocean eyes. He twined his left hand with Keith’s, their wedding bands pressed together, right where they should be. “You almost gave your poor husband a fucking heart attack. On Valentine’s Day, no less!”

 

Keith chuckled.

 

“Papá, you cursed again!” A young girl was seated at the dining table, coloring on a blank sheet of paper. Every time his eyes rested on her, a small boost of pride filtered through his chest. She looked up at them with wide eyes. She had the same ocean eyes as Lance, always had, always will. It was one of the reasons Keith had picked her from the start at the orphanage. That and because she was unnamed. He knew Lance wanted to name his daughter _Delilah Allura._ And the name suited her perfectly. Because she was their perfect alluring flower. “Daddy, tell Papá that he has to put money in the curse jar now.”

 

Keith looked back at Lance expectantly, who grumbled, “At this point, I’m going to be funding her college tuition,” before slipping a shiny silver coin into the jar on the counter.

 

And then Lance was looking at him, and Keith was _drowning, drowning._

 

But this kind of drowning wasn’t half bad. In fact, it was so good that he never wanted to come up for air again.

 

Because if he could drown in Lance’s ocean eyes forever, he would be be happy, so happy.

 

Family. Family. It felt odd to say after not having one for so long. But he had a family, finally. He had a family.

 

Two short taps, then a longer one, then another shorter one.

 

Ocean eyes.

  
_Drowning._ But only in the best kind of way.


End file.
